Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
“Is that going to be a problem?” Grady asked.
He leaned back in his chair. “I’m not going to curb who I am. Not for anyone.”
“So what you’re saying is that you won’t stop being stubborn, annoying, and bossy?”
“Exactly.”
“Christ,” Grady muttered. “You can’t fuck her.”
He knew that. It was against the rules.
That didn’t mean that he didn’t want to.
He watched as she walked out of the bathroom. She was wearing some sort of pant suit that didn’t fit her properly and was the wrong color for her skin tone. Along with those ridiculous slipper boots.
And he still thought she was hot as fuck.
This was definitely a problem.
A server walked in and Effie smiled at him.
The server smiled back and moved to pull out her chair. Grady stood and got to the chair before the server could get there, pulling it back for her.
Her face grew startled as she stared at Grady.
“Please sit.” It was worded politely, but Steele could hear the command and so could she.
She sat.
Unfortunately, she sat too early and the chair was still quite a bit away from the table.
Steele could see her face growing red in embarrassment. Just as he was about to get up and help her, Grady pushed on the back of the chair.
“Let’s just scoot you a bit closer.”
Steele was surprised by the way Grady watched over her. Generally, he was happy to step back and let Steele take the lead with any woman who took his eye.
Then again, Effie wasn’t just any woman.
The server, whose name he still couldn’t remember, handed out the menus.
“Thank you, Lee,” she murmured quietly.
The server gave her a pleased smile and stepped away.
“How do you know his name?” Steele demanded.
Her eyes widened as she stared at him, then over at Grady. “Is he serious?”
“Yep.”
“I want to know. How do you know his name?” He crossed his arms over his chest in irritation.
“It’s on his name badge.”
Name badge?
He didn’t have a name badge . . . right?
“It is?”
“Um, yep. Maybe you need glasses.”
“I do not need glasses,” he muttered. “Every part of this body is in excellent working condition.”
“Well, I already know that your eyes aren’t in excellent condition, so I’m a bit worried about your threshold for what you consider excellent.”
“She’s got you there,” Grady said.
Steele shot him a look. “It is all in excellent condition. And if you doubt my word, Spitfire, I would be happy to show you.”
He had to hide his grin as a blush filled her face. Her face was crimson and the blush traveled down her neck. Hmm, he wondered how far her blush went.
That thought made his dick grow hard and he had to reach down to adjust himself discreetly.
Well, he thought he’d been discreet, but Grady sent him a knowing look.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” she said primly.
Grady sent him a look. Employee. Right. Fuck. Why had he made that rule? Oh yeah, to ensure there weren’t any awkwardness or misunderstandings.
For some reason, that rule had never been hard for him to follow.
Until her.
Because all he could think about was getting her in his bed . . . stripping off the ugly mustard-colored pant suit she was wearing and chasing that blush with his tongue.
Grady raised an eyebrow at him. What was his problem? Steele was behaving himself.
And it wasn’t easy.
“The two of you do that a lot,” she said as she picked up her menu, reading it with a frown.
“Do what?” Steele asked.
“Have conversations silently. I guess you’ve known each other a long time.”
“Yeah, a long time,” Grady said.
Steele frowned slightly, unable to read his tone.
“My best friend and I were like that,” she said.
Grady narrowed his gaze on her. “Were?”
“Yeah. He died in a car accident a long time ago.”
“He?” Steele asked.
She raised her gaze, looking slightly confused. “Uh-huh. His name was Joe. He was my best friend for years. We were driving home one night after we’d been to a wedding. Joe asked me to go as his date. A car tried to overtake another car going the other way, and we couldn’t get out of the way in time. That’s also how I injured my back.”
“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” Grady told her.
“Me too. Brooks got the worst of it.”
“Brooks?” Steele asked. Even though he knew that she was the guardian of a sixteen-year-old boy, Steele figured she wouldn’t be impressed to learn that Grady had done a background check on her.
“Yeah, Joe’s son. He came to live with me after Joe’s death.”
“What about his mom?” Grady asked.
Her face grew closed-off, anger flooding her features, which was surprising when she was usually so happy. “In jail.”
Christ. That poor kid.
“How long has Brooks lived with you?” Grady asked.
“Six years now.”
“What did his mom get put away for?” Steele asked.
“I don’t want to talk about that anymore. What’s celeriac?”